


boom clap the sound of my heart

by aceofdiamonds



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, Hogwarts Era, Minor Character Deaths
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-16
Updated: 2014-07-16
Packaged: 2018-02-09 04:16:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1968654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aceofdiamonds/pseuds/aceofdiamonds
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>the development of katie and cho's friendship</p>
            </blockquote>





	boom clap the sound of my heart

**Author's Note:**

> this started with me wanting to write something about two female quidditch players, any two female quidditch players, and now these two have become lodged deep in my heart. i know gryffindor don't usually play ravenclaw until the end of the season but i've shuffled them about so they play them earlier sometimes just because it makes them fit easier. title comes from boom clap by charlie xcx

 

 

 

Katie wakes to a light shining in her face and a throbbing in her head that doesn't go away when she shuts her eyes again. She moans a little, tries to curl under the covers, but there's a hand pulling them back, insisting she please open her eyes so she can be properly checked over.

"Am I in the hospital wing?"

"I sincerely hope so or I'm in the wrong place," Madam Pomfrey says, her wand so close to poking Katie in the left eye. "Are you able to sit up, Miss Bell?"

"I think so?" This is her third? fourth? time in the Hospital Wing thanks to Quidditch. It's a dangerous sport, not just on the pitch but on the run up to matches, too. She shudders at past memories, then winces when Pomfrey tuts and it sounds like a canon. "My head hurts."

"You have a concussion, Miss Bell. I've fixed your arm and you'll have a nasty bruise on your shoulder but you need bed rest so I'm keeping you overnight."

She knows the drill -- groan or protest in any way and the sentence is increased. "Fine. I won't move."

"I'll know if you do," Pomfrey warns with a frown, and then she's marching up the ward into her office. "And stay awake. I'll be back in a moment." She's not bad, Madam Pomfrey, despite what everyone says around Pepper-Up season.

Katie shifts, tries to find a comfortable position that doesn't make her shoulder throb. She doesn't even remember what happened, one minute she was passing the Quaffle to Alicia the next she's waking up here. Shit. She forgot to ask who won. Her eyes shut once, twice, opening again when she hears footsteps approaching from the opposite direction of Pomfrey's office.

Cho Chang's standing at the end of the bed with her Quidditch uniform still on. "Hi."

"Hey, Chang. Um, what are doing here?" Considering they've barely said more than a handful of words in three years Katie thinks she's allowed to be confused.

"I wanted to apologise for knocking you off your broom," Chang says, moving to sit in the chair beside the bed.

"That was _you_?" Chang has the Seeker's build down to a T: small, slight, and looking completely incapable of knocking someone out of the sky. "Wow. I think I'm impressed."

"I didn't expect you to fall off. I feel awful."

Katie shrugs, winces when she feels a shoot of pain in her shoulder. "Don't worry about it. S'only a concussion."

"You need to stay awake, then."

"Mm. Who told you that?" She blinks slowly, fighting off the sudden drowsiness.

"Common sense," Chang smiles softly. "And my mum's a Healer."

"See, that's cheating. Had me thinking you were a medical genius, Chang."

"I corrected you quickly enough," she points out.

That makes Katie laugh. Bloody Ravenclaws. "So, who won? I hope you at least managed to catch the Snitch after your brutal attack on me."

"No, 200-70 to you." There's a soft lilt to Chang's voice that Katie's never noticed before. She tilts her head a bit to hear better, the relief that they won even with a player missing washes over her, and she smiles. "Sorry to hear that."

"Yeah. Okay," Chang says, rolling her eyes. "Harry Potter has to lose the Snitch one day, we've still got a chance of beating you to the Cup."

"Even if Harry slips up we've still got another six amazing players that will guarantee that will never happen. When was the last time Ravenclaw won the Cup, Chang?"

Chang's uniform is splattered with mud but that doesn't stop her resting her feet on the rungs of the bed. Katie's respect for her has already grown today but risking Pomfrey's wrath tosses another few points in her favour. Merlin. Why haven't they spoken before this?

"Last year," is the smug reply that makes Katie reconsider their new friendship.

"Ugh. I'm supposed to be resting and you're making my stress levels rise."

"I can leave?"

But Katie wants to discuss Quidditch more and yeah, maybe she wants to see if Chang will do that smile again. That was nice. "No, stay. Please. Unless you have homework or something?"

"You're really into House stereotypes, aren't you, Katie?" There's another smile, her teeth visible and her tongue peeking out a little.

"Nah," Katie says easily. "I've seen you in class, you're a total nerd."

"And what are you?"

"I'm injured. Thanks, by the way, for coming to see me. No one else would've done that."

Chang shrugs. "I felt guilty. I really didn't mean for you to fall off; I just wanted to shock you a bit."

"Still. Thanks."

"You're welcome. And you can call me Cho, you know. We don't have to be rivals off of the pitch."

"Okay, _Cho_ ," Katie grins. Her head throbs for the rest of the afternoon but she doesn't fall asleep, so, 100 points to Gryffindor.

 

.

  
  


She bumps into Cho in the grounds a few times, the conversation easy between them. They argue about Quidditch teams -- come on, anyone supporting the Tornados during this winning streak can hardly be a true fan, family tradition or not -- and what they miss from home -- Katie misses her mum's cooking and her cat, Molly; Cho can't wait to sleep in her own bed again -- and it's not that long at all that they plan their meetings instead of leaving them to chance.

The teachers are always going on and on about inter-house friendships. It was never a conscious decision to stick with her Gryffindor classmates, it just happened, but here’s Cho Chang from Ravenclaw suddenly becoming one of her closest friends and it’s nice. She’s not so bad -- you know, for a Ravenclaw.

  
  


.

  
  


No one wins the Cup that year because a giant monster gets released and starts picking off Muggle-Borns, their Seeker being the accused culprit, and so Quidditch takes a back seat to that. It's understandable if a little disappointing -- their team had been so good this year, Katie had been so close to proving Cho wrong.

"There's always next year," Cho says at King's Cross, her mouth growing into a smirk. "Maybe I'll knock you off your broom again."

"I bet you cry yourself to sleep with guilt over that," Katie replies and reaches out to push lightly at Cho's shoulder. Cho sways with the movement, leaning in. "It's Wood's last chance next year, I can guarantee he'll be crying himself to sleep if he doesn't get us the Cup."

Cho laughs. "Davies isn't as bad as that. He's good at controlling us without looking like he wants to Stun himself every time something goes wrong. It really keeps morale high; Wood should work on that."

"I'll pass on your tips," Katie says darkly, and then she pulls Cho into a hug. "See you in a few weeks, Chang."

"I told you not to call me that, Katie," is the muffled reply into Katie's neck. She loosens her grip on Cho's shoulders enough to hear, "I'll write."

"I'll try and reply," she grins, grins wider when she sees it mirrored on Cho's face. "Bye, Cho."

 

.

  
  


Over the next year Katie talks to Cho more and more. They have a lot in common: Quidditch, a liking for Charms, a similar sense of humour. Katie likes making Cho laugh and sometimes they fall in together, their hips bumping and their legs sliding against each other. Katie hasn't really thought about boys and kissing and Hogsmeade dates but whenever Cho slides an arm through hers and pulls her over to talk to her friends Katie thinks the flip of her belly might be something that happens to other girls.

There's definitely something there when she sees Oliver but isn't that the same for everyone with him? And yeah she can see that Roger Davies has a nice arse and it wouldn't be so bad to be locked in a broom cupboard with Mason Lacey but she's not pulled towards them the way she is with girls. With girls she finds her mind straying in class when she wonders what it would be like to kiss one with lipgloss smeared across their lips, their voices and moans a pitch higher. With boys she considers and moves on; with girls she _wants_.

She sits cross-legged on her bed with the curtains drawn and thinks about the past few months, matching up her meeting with Cho in the hospital wing with the time she started looking at the ways girls' skirts flounce around their thighs, how it might feel to wind her fingers in the long long hair that Cho is always pulling over one shoulder. It's not what she hears other girls talk about so maybe it isn't normal but it's something that makes a whole lot of sense for Katie.

 

.

  
  


It starts as a crush but grows rapidly into something that feels more than that, the time apart over summer stretching it until it is so big Katie finds it hard to think of anything else but Cho fucking Chang. Isn't falling for your best friend the number one thing you should never ever do? There's an ache in her chest that gets tighter every time their bodies bump  agsints each other when they walk down the corridor and she finds herself staring at Cho like she's never seen her before every time she notices something new about her. Katie nods and agrees when Cho comments on how tall Jamie Brocklehurts has gotten over the summer and thinks _yes_ , this is why. 

  
  


.

 

 

The Triwizard Tournament comes to Hogwarts in their fifth year which is a huge deal but also means there’s no time for Quidditch, so, you win some you lose some. In addition to the Three Tasks there’s the Yule Ball, a big fancy dance that doesn’t really sound like something Katie is interested in but everyone is going and there’s a rumour that the Weird Sisters so why not?

Katie falls into step with Cho after they both leave the Great Hall at the same time after dinner a few weeks before Christmas. "Word in the common room is Harry Potter asked you to the Ball."

Cho blushes. "I had to turn him down."

"For Cedric Diggory?" Cho shoots her a questioning look. "That's the other word."

"You Gryffindors know too much about everyone," Cho says, blush still high on her cheeks. "Who're you going with?"

Katie shrugs. The only boy she's ever really been interested in is Oliver and he's gone now. And the person she's into now? Well, they're going with Cedric Diggory. "Cadwallader hinted he might ask but I dunno what I would say. Anyway, what was Harry like when you said no?"

"Why are you so interested? Want to ask him yourself?"

"Just can't imagine him talking to a girl who isn't Hermione Granger."

"He was... sweet. He looked terrified. He'll find someone else, maybe he'll ask you, you've got the team connection."

Katie leans in, laughs at the way Cho's face twists. "He's too young for me -- plus I saw him attempt to chat up the Patil twins. Both of them."

There's a laugh and then Cho drops a hand onto Katie's arm, pulling her towards the Ravenclaw common room. "Listen, as thrilling as it is I don't really want to talk about Harry's dating habits."

"Only because you've missed out!" Katie squawks, letting herself be led through the corridors until they're standing in front of that knocker Katie's come to hate so much. "I think you bring me here just so can show off about how smart you are."

"No. I bring you here because my common room is nicer than yours."

They have this argument all the time so this time Katie just shrugs and pushes past to grab a seat by the window, leaving Cho to sigh and follow her. Her cheeks are still a little flushed from before and Katie wants to think about that but not right now. She'll think later when she's in her bed with a Silencing spell around her and she can imagine all the other ways she could get Cho to blush and blink her eyes at her.

She feels guilty sometimes, thinking these things about her friend, about her best friend, but mostly that's cancelled out with the acceptance that nothing's going to come of this anyway, her imagination is all she has.

Cho's setting up the board for chess when a second year comes over to ask her about Herbology homework. Cho explains it in simple terms, waiting for him to write down the basic gist before moving onto the next point, and then smiles gently when he thanks her and dashes back over to his table in the corner.

"What?" Cho asks, looking up at Katie.

Katie shakes her head. "Nothing. You do that all the time?"

“It’s just a thing that happens. The older you get the more questions you get asked.” She directs a knight forward. “Although, age doesn’t necessarily equal intelligence, I’ve been told some things I didn’t know by first years a few times.”

Katie swipes a pawn from Cho’s front line, smirking at the way it trudges over to the side of the board. “Huh. We don’t really have that in Gryffindor. The years are pretty much clear-cut.”

“Nothing wrong with that,” Cho says. “It’s just really nice to see someone so new and terrified to the school completely fall into their studies and make these theories no one else has thought about. The Muggle-Borns spend the first few weeks in a daze at all the new information they’d been provided with.”

“You were just like that, weren’t you?”

Cho ducks her head to concentrate on the game but Katie can see the way her lips are curved. “I’m Pure-Blood so it wasn’t as intense but yeah, this is a whole other world, isn’t it?”

“D’you have any idea what you’ll do when we leave here?”

“Being a Healer looks interesting -- helping people, I like that. What about you?”

Katie huffs a laugh. “I have no idea. All I'm good at is Quidditch. Healing sounds good, though, remember when you came to tell me how to treat the concussion you gave me?”

“Well you don’t have any permanent damage so it must have been good advice.” Cho kicks at her shin, her leg swinging backward and forwards, brushing Katie’s leg each time. “You can bask in the glory of being my first patient.”

“Maybe I’ll come visit you in St.Mungos, ask for your autograph so everyone wants to be treated by Healer Chang.” She commands her bishop to take Cho’s queen as soon as she spots the unbelieveable opening.

Cho groans. “I don’t want to play anymore.”

“Just admit you’re a sore loser, Chang, come on, I won’t tell anyone.”

“I hate you,” but she says it in that accent of hers so there’s really no venom there at all. Katie winks. “Stop that. Have you decided what you’ll tell Cadwallader? We can sit at the same table.”

“You’ll be at the special table,” Katie points out. She leans back so she’s resting against the wall, her leg bent on the seat up and away from Cho. “And he hasn’t even asked me yet."

"It's not a special table --"

"Cho, you'll be sharing with Dumbledore. That's kinda special."

"Go with Cadwallader, Katie. The Weird Sisters are playing."

"You don't even like them," Katie replies but she's laughing now, she knows she'll say yes to whoever asks her, Cadwallader being the preferred choice. "Alright, I'll go. But you have to promise me something."

Cho turns back from where she's been looking out of the window at the sparrows flying over the lake. Her hair is tied back in a ponytail today, showing off the little green stones of her earrings that contrast with the blue of her tie. "Promise you what?"

"You have to..." Katie stops and thinks for a moment because she didn't actually think this far ahead with her bargaining. "Dance with me once."

Cho laughs loud enough for the boy from before to look up from his book. "Tell you what -- I'll dance with you twice."

"Deal," and then she sets up the board for another game.

 

.

 

.

 

_Cho,_

_I'm so sorry about Cedric. Owl me when you want to talk._

_Katie x_

.

 

_Do you believe what Harry and Dumbledore said?_

_C x_

.

 

_Yes. Why?_

_Katie x_

.

 

_My mum is saying it's all lies. I'm glad you're different from her. We're the same, Katie._

_C x_

.

 

_No offense to your mum but I think she's wrong. Cedric died a hero's death. If he had to go at all, which he shouldn't have, he really shouldn't've that would have been the way he wanted._

_Katie x_

.

 

_Do you want to meet up? Somewhere halfway -- Newcastle?_

_C x_

.

 

_When?_

_Katie x_

.

 

_Is next Saturday too soon? I feel like I'm going mad in here._

_C x_

.

 

_See you then, Chang x_

.

  
  


"So," Katie says, and maybe she's slurring a bit but who's going to notice. "Cho. Cho Chang. Miss Chang --"

"Is there a point to this?" Cho asks. Her words sound annoyed but Katie knows Cho, she can read her, and she knows that she doesn't actually mind. In fact, she's smiling a little like she's trying not to, so Katie is doing no harm.

"Yes there is, Cho Chang. I am here to tell you something." She's actually here because the party in the common room was getting boring after Angelina and Fred disappeared ages ago and Alicia was spending all of her time talking to Briony so she left but she's here and she _likes_ Cho. "I have to tell you something."

"You've said that already."

"See? This is why you're a Ravenclaw. So smart."

"I know," Cho says, leading them over to an alcove.

It's quiet here, very quiet and private and good for important talks and confessions like the one that's just about to spill out of Katie's mouth. "Maybe I shouldn't say."

"Then don't." Like it's as _simple_ as that. It feels like it's eating up her insides and that's not the Firewhiskey talking. "How much have you had to drink?"

Katie waves a hand somewhere near her knee, confident in that form of measurement. "Not much. Anyway, s'not like we win the Quidditch Cup all the time. It's _allowed_."

"You only won by a little bit."

"Sorry, Cho, but Ginny caught the Snitch before you. Shame Harry wasn't playing, right? You like him."

"I do not." She's blushing now, she's always blushing, and Katie is finding it very hard not to reach out and feel how warm her cheek must be. "I told you, it didn't work out."

"Listen, Cho. You're a lovely girl. You're a _catch_ and anyone would be lucky to have you."

"You think?"

"I _know_. I might not be in Ravenclaw but I know some stuff."

"Thanks, Katie. You're not so bad yourself."

She's smiling and Merlin, hasn't Katie always been stupid about Cho Chang and her bloody smile that makes Katie feel like she's done something to deserve it. So with the smiling and the blushing and the Firewhiskey coursing through her veins it feels as good a time as any to lean forward and kiss Cho.

She does it and everything slows down like someone's jumped out from behind a tapestry and thrown an Impedimenta Jinx right at them. Her mouth rests on Cho's, neither of them moving, and then Katie tries tilting her head a little, pressing a little harder. Cho still doesn't do anything. Katie's heart is beating really fast now -- maybe this wasn't such a good time after all? Maybe it never will be.

"Katie?" Cho asks between them, really softly, really quietly, right on Katie's mouth because look, they're still sort of kissing, and her tone is in no way indicative whether she wants to Hex Katie or not.

"Yeah?" Katie should probably move away, this being disastrous and all, but she's a Gryffindor, so, bravery? "Cho?"

But Cho isn't pulling back either and she hasn't been drinking so her judgement can't be impaired and that's enough for Katie to press their mouths together again. This time she traces the seam of Cho's lips with her tongue, smiling when their mouths open, their tongues sliding together.

Katie shifts so she's angled above Cho, her head dipping down to keep their mouths attached. She breathes out, a moan slipping out with it. She kissed a girl last summer in the alley halfway between their houses. It had been wet and fun and exciting but it hadn't felt like anything like this. Maybe that's because Katie has thought about this moment a lot or maybe it's because Cho is kissing her like she's important, like this isn't something to fuck up.

"You're drunk, Katie --" Katie moves to kiss Cho's neck, just where it meets her shoulder. "I'm taking advantage."

"I'm not that drunk," she murmurs into her skin. She could suck a bruise here, see it Monday in class and know it was her that put it there, made her mark. Her teeth press gently on the smooth skin, pressing a little harder when Cho makes no sign of protesting, only tilting her head so Katie's mouth can fit easier. "I want this so much, Cho."

They must sit there for hours, taking each other in slowly, easily. Katie loses herself in the way her hands wind in Cho's hair, silky and exciting, how Cho's feel on her body, at her hips then her waist then gradually moving up to her chest, tentative at first but growing more confident with each passing second and encouraging sound from Katie.

Her breathing is heavy to match Cho's, both of them so loud in the empty corridor. They should have been found by now by a teacher, a passing student, anyone; this is a popular spot for encounters like this, but no one's found them yet. She moves her hand from Cho's hair to her chest, her fingers careful, thrilled at having access to this part of Cho. "Fuck," she says, a laugh breathing into Cho's mouth.

"Yeah."

It ends by someone pulling away and sitting up, a simple ending to something so extraordinary. They look at each other with swollen lips and misplaced clothing and they smile, happy with the way they spent their evening.

Katie feels like she's standing somewhere up high watching the scene from far away. She watches her head drop onto Cho's shoulder but looks away before she catches the curve of Cho's hand pulling her closer.

  
  


.

  
  


Katie goes to bed feeling delirious with the afternoon's win and the feel of Cho's breasts in her hands. The alcohol's effects have long left her system but there's still a pleasant buzzing in her head that's enough to push away the discouraging voice at the back of her head that tells her not to shove down her pyjama bottoms and relive the last couple of hours in a way that pulls her over the edge, the heat that has been curling in her belly, warm and tight, releasing with a twist of her fingers and a quiet cry.

 

.

  
  


The next morning the feeling that it was a wonderfully vivid dream disappears when she spots the mark on her collarbone and the waves of satisfaction that are still in her bones.

She kissed Cho. Fuck.

This could be a good thing, this should be the greatest thing to happen to her, after all isn't this all she's been wishing for for years? She had kissed Cho and Cho had _kissed_ _her back_.

But what if she was only doing that so as not to hurt Katie's feelings? What if she hates Katie now? What if they can't go back to being friends? Above all things Katie can't not be friends with Cho. Cho's too big a part of her life now. And now she's probably ruined it. Bollocks.

This is all she's wanted and that's why she's not letting herself have it, she's not even going to try. Hey, she never said she was the best at making decisions. This is for the best, as much as it’s going to hurt. She’ll thank herself one day. Maybe.

"I was drunk," Katie tries later when they run into each other outside of Potions. It sounds weak but Cho nods once, quick, and it looks like she believes her. "I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry."

Cho shifts her weight onto her other foot, her face turned down towards the floor. "Oh. Okay."

"So..."

"Right."

This is worse than that time in second year where Katie told Oliver he was the most brilliant Keeper she had ever seen and that had been _awful_. The best way to fix this is to get out of here as quickly as possible. "I need to go. Quidditch practice."

Any other time Cho would call her out on her shit excuse but this time she lets her go.

 

.

  
  


_Katie, Nathan told me what happened. It's not true, is it?_

_C x_

It is. Her dad is dead because he couldn't sit back and watch people dying for no damn good reason and the Death Eaters sitting in the Ministry weren't prepared to sit back and watch the innocent be protected. Her dad is dead because he was brave and sometimes reckless and now he's nothing but a thousand memories in her head. Her dad is dead, her mum is struggling with magic due to grief, and her brother has turned away from everything he's known to avenge their father's death.

_I_ _need_ _you_ , she writes and doesn't score it out because her emotions are pushing at her skin from the inside out and she finds she can't lie even if she wanted to.

  
  


.

  
  


After summer they go back to the way they were before but it feels like something's missing now, something that neither of them are able to touch. That day they spent together over the holidays had only been a walk around the park near Cho's and then dinner in a cafe in town but it had made Katie feel less like she was going to shatter. It had helped her build up a perspective:  they're in a war, there are going to be more deaths, they have to fight to make sure they weren't all in vain. She and Cho know a lot about loss, too many people in this castle do. The way Katie sees it is that they've got to make the most of the rest of their time in this bubble of relative safety.

"I see Harry's Captain this year."

"He deserves it."

"I thought it would be you."

"All I'm interested in is scoring goals -- I couldn't get my head around captaincy."

"Maybe if you were Captain you would be in with a chance of beating us this year." Cho's eyes twinkle across the table. Merlin, she's so full of shit. And yet Katie still has this tug towards her like she has all the answers to the universe or something huge like that. She is so far gone she's almost blind to the fact that Cho is a giant nerd. Nah, Cho being a giant nerd is half the reason why she feels the way she does in the first place.

She scoffs. "Please. We could beat your sorry excuse for a team with _no_ Captain," she pause then adds: " _and_ with our eyes shut."

The sound of Cho's laugh sinks deep inside of her, a contrast to the darkness that's growing all around them outside the castle's boundaries. Katie holds onto the way that sound makes her feel. "Burke's taken over as Captain this year. He runs practices like Wood. There's no way you're winning the Cup again before we leave here."

They've barely been back three days. Katie hasn’t fully _unpacked_. "You've had a practice _already_?"

"Let me rephrase: he makes Wood look lazy."

Katie, Harry and Ron are the only ones left from last year's line-up. They're going to need a cauldron of Felix Felicis if they're going to defend their title without looking like a laughing stock. "Harry's going to make us win, watch this space, Chang."

"Oh, I'm watching," Cho says, her fingers tapping a rhythm on the wood. "I'm watching you going down."

See? After everything they still have Quidditch. Quidditch and Cho Chang: it's enough.

 

 

.

  
  


Katie's mind goes blank in October until she wakes up in St. Mungo's at the end of April. Her mum cries and tells her over and over again how lucky she is to be alive. Her brother stands at the end of the bed, his arms folded, his face full of an anger that makes Katie worry for him. He quit his job in the Magical Law Enforcement last month, their mum tells her when he goes to get them tea. I'm worried about him, she admits, the lines on her face telling Katie how much she worries, looking so much older than the last time she saw her only a few months ago.

"I wish Dad was here," she says quietly. Her voice is hoarse from months of disuse. She tries to cough but it hurts.

"Me too, honey."

The tea Jamie brings is too hot but Katie drinks it anyway, the liquid harsh on her throat. For the first time in her life she wishes she wasn't going back to Hogwarts but instead staying in this little room with her mother and brother.

  
  


.

  
  


Cho's arms are tight around her waist; Katie thinks she's got hair in her mouth. She doesn't let go.

"I thought you were gone," is whispered into her shoulder. "I thought I wouldn't see you again."

"You're not getting rid of me." Sometimes it's easier to joke about things. This isn't such a time. "I missed you, Cho."

  
  


.

  
  


Katie always said she wanted to play professionally after Hogwarts. But now there's a war on. This isn't the time nor is it the place for Quidditch.

"If you follow me, Mrs MacDonald, the Portkey's just through here."

"You're doing an incredible job here," she says, taking her two children by the hands and following over to the door and through a narrow corridor. "We can't thank you enough."

"Just doing what I can, ma'am."

Cormac's waiting at the other end with the scabby old boot that's going to take them halfway across the country to the Portkey that will take the MacDonald family overseas and hopefully to safety. “This will activate in a minute or so,” he explains, winking at the youngest boy who looks close to tears, “and then you’ll be met by our colleagues in Dorset who will escort you to Barcelona, that sound okay? And, Alex, is it?” The boy gives a minute nod, still clutching his mother's arm. "Ask the blonde lady about her pocket of Chocolate Frogs." 

The war changes people. At least, it changed Cormac. She's finding he's no longer so intolerable, not as arrogant and idiotic as she's always known him to be. They're dealing with things bigger than all of them now, there's no point in holding on to feelings from school. All she cares about is that he's good at this job; they make a good team. He can be funny, too, pulling out jokes when it gets too bleak, and he always remembers to give her the raspberry Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans when he finds a packet. At the end of the end it's the fact that he's not too bad with a wand that is what's keeping them alive.

When the MacDonald family have thanked them again and they've smuggled another five groups over into the continent Katie and Cormac end their shift, dozens of Apparition journeys dragging down their bodies and leaving them longing for bed.

"Just one drink," Dean says again, his voice rising with persuasion even though he himself looks dead on his feet. "One drink on me. You deserve this!"

Cormac shrugs, looks at Katie helplessly.

"Just one," she says, holding onto Cormac's arm for the spin that makes her stomach lurch every single time.

The Leaky Cauldron is mobbed at this time on a Friday night even with, or because of, the atmosphere outside. There's a large group of goblins in the corner that are muttering between themselves and throwing glares over their shoulders that make Katie uneasy; a table of witches have commandeered the middle of the room, talking loudly and quickly. They could be discussing anything from hair products to the new laws passed the other day prohibiting more and more people. Katie half wants to join them, anything for a chance to blend into the crowd and sit for an hour or two just listening to other people's voices.

Instead she follows Cormac, Dean and Sandra to a booth at the back where the talking is quietest while Jack gets the drinks.

"Long day," Cormac says, his head dropping into his folded arms.

Katie agrees with a groan.

"You did good, kid," Sandra says. Her hand passes over Katie's shoulder, pressing once before moving onto Cormac's. She's the mum of their little group; the older witch who calls everyone kid regardless of their age. Katie thinks she would lost in this without them. "You both did."

"Good's not enough," Dean says, his voice gruff. He lost his partner a couple of months ago in a surprise attack that happened while Dean was out helping other Muggle-Borns, his boyfriend insisting he was safe at home. "There are too many we can't get to."

"We're going to get as many Muggle-Borns to safety as possible." Sandra has this no-nonsense way of speaking that makes you listen and also makes you believe everything she says. Sandra may be the kindest of the group but she'll never lie. They _are_ going to get as many people to safety as they possibly can. "We've got a good long list tomorrow. Dean, we're making a difference."

Jack appears with the drinks, Butterbeer sloshing onto the table when he places the tray down too heavily. "Coupla Death Eaters at the bar. The fucking --"

"Sit down and have a drink," Katie says. She doesn't like it either. Her stomach is full of rage, her hands clenched at her sides; she can't see their faces from here, what if one of them was the one who took her dad from her? But it's futile to keep their business under the radar or it's Azkaban for all of them and the number of prosecuted Muggle-Borns rises.

"I can't believe they're -- no, don't fucking look," Jack hisses when Cormac cranes his neck to see above the crowd. If Sandra's the kindest and Cormac is the fastest then Jack is the wildest, all impulse and anger and scars to prove that that combination isn't the best. "I saw at least four so if it comes down to it we outnumber them, but --"

"Jack," Dean leans across the table. The circles under his eyes are how Katie feels. She takes a gulp of Butterbeer in an attempt to wake her up but the liquid sloshes inside of her, warm and comforting, and pulls her further under. "Jack," Dean says again. "It's been a long day. Sit down."

Jack exhales hard through his nose but sinks into the chair beside Katie. "I really wanna show them..."

"We all do," Sandra agrees, sipping her drink slower than the rest of them. Her black curls are slipping at one side; her and Dean almost got caught today in Bath. Merlin, Katie's never felt this exhausted in her life.

"I'll get the next round," Cormac offers a few minutes later when it's clear the only reason they're here is to drink, not talk. "In a minute..."

He's almost asleep, his eyes fluttering closed every few seconds. Katie smiles, resists the urge to pat him on the head. "I'll go," she says instead because maybe if she's moving she won't be the next to drop. She could just go home, she knows this, but it's warm in here and her friends are here -- it makes it easier to pretend things aren't as bad as they are. "Honestly," she adds when Cormac looks up at her bleary-eyed and making half-arsed attempts at moving. “Stay there.”

She almost walks right into an old warlock who is stumbling around the tables carrying what looks like a cauldron of pumpkin juice. A goblin from the table at the back gets in her way when she takes another five steps so by the time she reaches the bar she’s half-inclined to keep walking right out of the door.

“Katie,” Tom says, beaming at her. “What can I get you?”

“Hi, Tom. Five Butterbeers please.”

“How did it go today?” he asks, his voice low as he pretends to count out her pile of Knuts.

“As good as it can be,” she replies, resting her chin on her elbow and hoping her knees don’t give way. “I’m sure one of them was one of your regulars -- Steve Clements?”

Tom nods sadly. “He was in here not that long ago, as well. Looked worried sick. Listen, Katie, you’re doing a great thing here. Risking your life for these people.”

People keep saying this like she’s doing something so wonderful -- it’s not wonderful, it’s the _right_ _thing_ _to_ _do_. She doesn’t deserve the praise that comes with it. All she wants is safe families and this fucking war to _end_. She manages some form of smile in Tom’s direction and picks the tray with the drinks up carefully, steeling herself for the walk back across the pub.

She makes it halfway before someone touches her shoulder. Her wand is in her pocket, she can’t reach it, fuck --

“Katie,” Cho says. “It’s me.”

One of the glasses has toppled creating a sea of amber liquid swirling around the rest of the tray. Katie turns slowly. It really is Cho. She looks thinner, tired, her hair swept away from her face in a bun in a no-nonsense way she never had to do at Hogwarts. But it’s Cho standing right in front of her for the first time since Hogwarts. Katie’s finding it hard to breathe.

“Cho. What’re you doing here?”

“I’ve been in Diagon Alley,” she gestures vaguely behind her. “There was an attack this afternoon.”

“What have you been doing?” She should stop with the questions but she can’t, she wants to know everything she’s missed, she’s missed Cho so much. The tray in her hands wobbles. “Are you here a lot?”

A table opens up beside them; Cho leads them over, a hand on Katie’s arm. “Not much. Usually it’s for work.”

“Work?” She used to know everything about her and now she’s lost.

“I’ve been part of a medical unit. It’s sort of like a crash course of Healing.”

Of course. Katie grins. Fatigue is still dragging at her bones but she feels more up to fighting it now. She’s sitting here talking to Cho, when’s this going to happen again? “That’s really great, Cho.”

“Just doing what I can,” Cho shrugs. There’s a scar on her collarbone where her shirt has been jerked down. It’s a dangerous job, Katie can see. “I’ve heard about you, Katie. I’m proud of you.”

Fuck, Katie wants to lean in. Not to kiss her, only a hug. She wants to rest her head on Cho’s shoulder and fall asleep, stuck in this surreal moment where things feel okay. She can’t. She reaches her hand over the table and touches Cho’s wrist, her finger tracing the faded leather of her watch strap.

“When is this going to be over, Cho? Will it ever be?” She hates that she sounds like a little kid which isn’t the mentality she’s had up until this point. It’s like Cho has gotten here and pulled her back, shattering the shell around her and having her seek comfort. “I’m so tired.”

“Me too, Katie.” A long pause. Katie sighs, her finger presses into the skin exposed under her shirt. “I miss you.”

They can’t write anymore, it’s too risky to have owls flying from any location Katie is in, she imagines it’s the same for Cho, and with the Floo Network being monitored by the fallen Ministry, all she can do is listen out for names of dead or injured witches and selfishly prey it’s no one she knows.

“Are you busy?”

“Right now? No I was heading home.” Cho lifts a hand to touch Katie’s hair where it’s falling out of her ponytail. The soft brush of her fingers pushes memories of Cup winnings and secret alcoves and heavy kisses to the front of Katie’s mind. She leans into it. “Why?”

“Come meet my team?”

“Okay,” she says, just like that.

Butterbeer dribbles onto her wrist when she picks the tray up again but she ignores it. Cormac’s good at cleaning spells, if he’s not completely asleep he’ll put her right. “Jack’s a Tornados fan,” she says, glancing over her shoulder. The hand on her shoulder tells her Cho is still there but she’s just making sure.

“Bet you love that.”

“He’s blind to reason. The Kestrels are absolutely going to win again soon, aren’t they, Sandra?” Sandra nods without really listening before she catches sight of Cho behind Katie and raises an eyebrow. “Oh. This is Cho -- and this is Jack, Sandra, Dean and Cormac. Say hi everyone.”

There’s a couple of mumbles from Dean and Jack, Cormac lets out a snore. Sandra smiles. “Nice to meet you, Cho. Are you joining us?”

“If that’s alright,” she says then slides in beside Cormac. She looks at Katie seeking explanation for the appearance of their old classmate. Katie shrugs like she doesn’t know how it happened either and fits onto the chair beside Cho. “Long day?” She winces in sympathy when Jack groans into his drink. “Tell me about it.”

Sandra brings the Kestrels back up, obviously deciding that since they have an interloper they better actually have a conversation instead of sitting slumped against the table. Katie’s going home in ten minutes, she swears. She leans on Cho’s side, her eyes close to shutting. Cho shifts to give her more room as she gets into a conversation with a monotonous Jack about the last couple of seasons with the Tornados.

Cormac jerks away a few minutes later, blinking rapidly and not bothering to fight down the huge yawn that overtakes him. Katie follows seconds after. She bites her lip as she watches him sit for a long moment before he realises who’s beside him. “Cho Chang? What the hell?”

“Hello, Cormac.”

“Wha --” he leans forward to stare at Katie. “You’re sitting beside Cho.”

“I met her over at the bar, she said she missed you so I invited her over.”

He rolls his eyes and smiles wanly at Cho. He really has changed, Katie thinks. He’s one of her closest friends now and god did she ever think she would say that. “Good seeing you,” he nods, Cho returning the gesture.

Katie sits back, her body warm where it’s pressed against Cho. There’s a war out there, a war that has everyone at this table risking their lives daily in order to save who they can but right now Katie drops her head on Cho’s shoulder and finally lets her eyes close to the sound of Cormac sleepily mumbling through a explanation as to why the Nimbus 2004 is better than The Firebolt. The war will still be there tomorrow.

 

 

.

  
  


Word gets around that Harry has turned up at Hogwarts and that the castle is fighting. Katie escorts the Mr and Mrs Heggerty to their Portkey with shaking fingers, wishing them the best of luck with the rest of their journey, and watches as they disappear in a flash of blue light.

“Hogwarts is fighting,” she says, turning to Cormac.

He freezes with his wand halfway to his pocket. “How do we get in? I heard they’ve blocked every passageway.”

Katie fingers the coin in her hand. It had been Cho who had told her to stick it in her pocket and she had gone along with it for the sake of it never expecting it to heat up against her thigh. “We’ve to Apparate to the Hog’s Head.”

“Fuck.” He runs a hand through his hair. He looks young here with his tired blue eyes and messy blond hair. Katie has that urge to protect him again even though he has a head and a half on her. “You want to Side-Along?”

“Sure.”

They’re going to _fight_ , they’re going to _win_ or they’re going to die trying just like her Dad, just like so many others. Katie digs her fingers tight into Cormac’s arm as they spin and the smile on her face is huge.

 

.

  
  
  


This isn’t the Hogwarts she knows and loves. This is a battle that makes her bite back a scream every time she turns a corner and has to dodge a flash of green light or sees a student with a blank face still on the ground. She’s not ready for this.

Dean Thomas appears at her side while she’s locked in a duel with a long-faced Death Eater. “How you doing, Katie?”

“Could be better,” she says, breathing hard. She aims a jinx at the man’s thigh, Dean following it up with a bright purple hex that sends the Death Eater crashing to the floor. “You?”

“Having the time of my life,” he shouts back, turning quickly to catch the passing partner of the man they’ve just beaten. “You haven’t seen Luna?”

“Not since the Room of Requirement,” when everything had been hectic and excited, so eager to come out here and show You-Know-Who what they had. “I’m sure she’s fine.”

“Yeah, she will be,” he says so confidently. He ducks a curse that ends up narrowly missing his left ear and then he’s running in the opposite direction that Katie is heading in. “See you later, Katie!”

She sets off down the main staircase into the Entrance Hall where suits of armour are barging around stamping on every Dark wizard they come across only avoiding Hogwarts students purely by luck. Katie dodges a clanging knight with an orange plume and steps into the nearest room.

A boy who can’t be more than fifteen, too young to be here, is cowering over by the window, his hands above his head and his sobs wracking his body. Katie crosses the room quickly. “Hey, are you hurt?”

“I’m scared,” he gets out. His tie is red and gold but she doesn’t think she recognises him.

Katie doesn't know what to do here -- does she touch him? Will that panic him more? “I am too,” she says, crouching down beside him. He unfolds his arms gradually until she can see the blood running down the side of his face mixing with the tears still flowing. “You’re not supposed to be here.” It comes out close to a whine, her worry spilling over.

“I wanted to fight.”

“I know.” Katie taps her wand gently on the side of his head where the bleeding seems worst. She cleans him up messily but by the end of it he doesn’t look as broken. Physically, at least. She doesn’t know any spells that will fix the look in his eyes. “You’re very brave.”

That gets a weak smile. It wasn’t really supposed to be a compliment right now, not when it led to this, but if it works. She gets to her feet then offers a hand to pull him up. “Thanks for, you know,” he gestures at his head.

“No problem. Now, if I tell you to go to the Room of Requirement are you going to listen or are you going to go back and fight?”

“I don’t know,” he says honestly which she appreciates. She huffs a laugh then shoves him out of the door. “You’re a great Chaser, Katie,” he adds just before he leaves. “I’m gonna try out next year.”

“Good luck,” she calls after him then follows him up the staircase just in case he runs into anyone he can’t handle. Merlin, she doesn’t even know his name.

“Katie!”

She spins just as Cho comes crashing into her. “What -- are you okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah I’m fine.” She’s breathing hard like she’s been running for ages. Katie doesn’t want to think about how many near-misses there have been tonight. “Need to talk to you.”

“What about?” They’ve been exchanging sporadic owls since their meeting at the Leaky Cauldron. It’s better.

"I just wanted to say, in case I die tonight or you do --"

"Cho, we're not going to die." Over Cho's shoulder Katie can see a giant making giant steps towards the castle from beyond the forest. Dying is a huge possibility.

"But, still, let me say this." She pauses then says in a slow measured tone. "I wanted what you did."

"What?"

"In sixth year, the Cup, the kiss. You said you wanted it and then you said you didn't but I wanted it too."

"What?" she says again.

"Katie, you didn't give me a chance to tell you, you just pushed right back to how it was before."

"Because that was what you wanted."

"I wanted you, Katie."

A thud makes the walls tremble. "But Cedric, Harry, Roger..."

"And _you_." Cho steps closer. She's holding her wand loosely at her side with all of her attention on Katie.

There's a battle going on, Katie remembers dumbly. "I can't believe we're having this conversation now."

Cho ducks in and kisses Katie's cheek. "I just wanted you to know how I feel. After this, we'll talk."

  
  


.

  
  


"I've been looking for you."

"I've got a concussion," Katie says, a laugh bubbling out of her.

Cho's smile is small but it's a smile nonetheless. There's a cut on her left temple that looked like it stopped bleeding a while ago but the red is still too bright against her skin. "You're not supposed to fall asleep."

"So I've heard."

"It's over, Katie." It comes out in a rush: disbelief, exhaustion and relief all rolled into one. "It's really over."

They've lost so many people, too many, but they won. She's so tired. "Stay here with me."

Cho folds her legs under her at the bottom of the bed, her foot a comforting weight on Katie's. "Okay."

They'll talk about everything later. Maybe, if what Cho said earlier wasn't a hallucination, they'll more than talk. But right now Katie sleeps.   
  



End file.
